baseballfandomcom-20200222-history
Carl Crawford
Carl Demonte Crawford (born August 5, 1981 in Houston, Texas) is currently the left fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball team. Pro career Coming out of Jefferson Davis High School in Houston, Crawford was offered scholarships to play basketball as point guard at UCLA or to play football as an option quarterback at the University of Nebraska. Crawford turned down both offers in favor of a baseball career. He was drafted by the Devil Rays in the second round of the 1999 amateur draft (the 52nd overall pick). In 2002 the Tampa Bay chapter of the BBWAA named him the Devil Rays Most Outstanding Rookie and he earned International League Rookie of the Year playing for the AAA Durham Bulls. Crawford entered the major leagues at the young age of 20 and played in 62 games with the Devil Rays in his rookie 2002 season. In 2003, he played nearly every day, batting .281 with 54 runs batted in and led the league with 55 stolen bases. Along with Juan Pierre, Carl was co-winner of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum James "Cool Papa" Bell Legacy Award for 2003. In the 2004 season, Crawford stole 59 bases, again leading the league and posting the second-highest total in the majors that season, and hit .296 with 11 home runs and 55 RBIs. He was selected for the 2004 All Star Game, played in his hometown of Houston, and was named Devil Rays team MVP in 2004 by the BBWAA. Crawford led the league in triples in both 2004 (19) and 2005 (15). Carl Crawford stated during February 2006 that his desire to be the number one fantasy baseball pick motivates him to train harder and play better, making him one of the first baseball players to openly talk about fantasy baseball as a motivation tool. On July 5, Crawford became only the eighth player in history to get 200 stolen bases before his 25th birthday. That same day, he also stole home plate for the first time in his career, a feat which is extremely rare in modern baseball. Crawford tied a major league record against the Boston Red Sox on May 3, 2009 when he had 6 stolen bases in one game against the Red Sox in a home game. He tied Eddie Collins, Otis Nixon, and Eric Young. He was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox on December 9, 2010. This link reports the signing: http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=5901372 Awards and accomplishments * Rays Most Outstanding Rookie (2002) * International League Rookie of the Year (2002) * Cool Papa Bell Legacy Award (2003) * American League Stolen Base Champion (2003) * American League Stolen Base Champion (2004) * American League All-Star (2004) * Rays Most Valuable Player (2004) * Rays Season Runs Record: 104 (2004) * Rays Season Triples Record: 19 (2004) * Rays Season Stolen Base Record: 59 (2004) 5 Tool Assessment of Carl Crawford for 2006 1. Hitting - Through 2006, Carl's batting average has gone up every year since his debut in 2002. Last year was his first year over 3 at .305. He has good bat speed, and hits in all areas of the field. He could improve a bit in striking out, as he had 84 last year, which is a little high for a lead-off hitter. All in all, we should expect another stellar year for Crawford at the plate, as he paves his way to be a future New York Yankee. 2. Power - Crawford bats 2nd, so you don't expect a tremendous amount of home runs out of him, but he hit 15 last year which is respectable. He could probably hit more if he changed his swing to a more upward motion, but that's not likely to happen, and anyway what's the point when the Rays have Cantu and Gomes as their power hitters. 3. Speed - CC runs like a gazelle on a crystal meth binge. If he hits one over the head of any outfielder you can count on Carl to be on third base by the time the fielder gets the ball. CC is one of the fastest baseball players of all time 4. Fielding - His speed is useful in getting a great jump on well hit balls. He has tough competition for a Gold Glove with consecutive wins from Ichiro, Torii Hunter, and Vernon Wells, but it's within the realm of the possible. 5. Arm Strength - Improvement in arm range will put Crawford on track for centerfield, and the Gold Glove. Overall rating - 4.5 out of 5 External links *In-depth biography *Career statistics *MLB.com profile *ESPN.com profile *http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=5901372 Category:1981 births Category:Living people Crawford, Carl Category:Durham Bulls players Crawford, Carl Crawford, Carl Crawford, Carl Crawford, Carl Category:Boston Red Sox players